On the world stage the United States is the last great superpower, with a
mighty military, a vast economy and a culture that conquers all. In the
realm of international chess, however, America remains a weakling, incapable
of matching the armies of China and Russia.

To remedy this glaring deficiency, America is now making clandestine efforts
to recruit potent chess players from foreign nations.

The chief target appears to have been a young Italian named Fabiano Caruana,
who holds dual Italian-American nationality and who says he received a tap
on the shoulder and the offer of a large sum of

Openings pioneer
A consistent feature of the early games of grandmaster Mark Taimanov, who
sadly passed away last week at the age of 90, was his espousal of dynamic
systems that would have been anathema to the ancient champions of a
classical bent